Move Over, Ronald MacDonald

Don't you just hate it when food and politics overlap?

But here we go again, and this time our dietary advice is coming straight from the top. This week First Lady Michelle Obama pretty much said that most of us are just too stupid to figure out what's best for our kids when it comes to food choices.

“So many parents desperately want to do the right thing, but they feel like the deck is stacked against them,” she said. “They know their kids’ health is their responsibility but they feel like it’s out of their control.”

Huh?

Now I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure that a MacDonald's Happy Meal isn't quite as healthy as a slice of roast chicken and a side of green beans. I don't need a poster in a restaurant or a community service ad on television to tell me what is just common sense. I also don't need a Harvard degree to understand that apples are better than chocolate cake.

But I'm equally sure I know what my kids would pick. And who can blame them? I'm sorry, a Hershey's Kiss IS better than a celery stick.

The point is, parents don't need nudging by the federal government when it comes to caring for our kids. And we especially don't need the feds to tell us what to eat ... or what not to eat. Mrs. Obama insults everyone when she suggests that parents who are busy need extra education when it comes to food choices.

But there's something else the first lady said that just didn't sit right. Mrs. Obama admits that she "occasionally" fed her own children fast food or microwave meals. Apparently, it took her pediatrician to point out her food fault.

Hang on. I think someone slipped aspartame in my milkshake.

The truth is, no one gets fat from an "occasional" stop at Taco Bell or a quickie microwave dinner. So either Mrs. Obama has a bigger fast food problem than she wants to admit, or she needs to change pediatricians.

Every now and then, between baseball practice, piano lessons and swim team, a Whopper is about all that's going to get to the table. I'm not going to apologize. In fact, when I was young, I got fast food so rarely that when I hit the college cafeteria my freshman year I went hog-wild. Literally. I'm convinced that had I been allowed the occasional Filet-O-Fish as a youngster, I would have had less need to binge at the all-you-can-eat macaroni bar.

Are Americans too fat? Probably. But no one forces us to make poor food choices. For that, I blame no one but myself. Likewise, it's my responsibility as a mother to feed my family as best I can. And sometimes, that includes a double cheeseburger.

Pass the catsup, please.